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He nodded, palming his fist in his hand. “Okay.” He took a step back, clearly unsure.
I spoke before he could leave. “I’m pissed because I didn’t see it.”
Rook considered me for a long time. “I told her to hide it from you.”
“Love and Ebony, too? All of you were making her feel like that, and I fucking missed it.”
“Because she loved you.” Rook’s voice was hoarse.
I stared at him. “She loves you more than she’ll ever love any of us—she did right from the start. You didn’t know because she was trying to protect you from it—from… from us.”
I stared at him, lump still caught in my throat.
“I’ve seen what she’d do to protect what’s hers. It’s why I have such a long way to go before I deserve that from her. But you… you’ve always deserved it.”
I nodded, but still couldn’t find anything else to say, so he stepped back toward my door. “You uh… you need to show her that,” he said, glancing at the poster board.
“It’s not…” I swallowed. “It would be wrong. I mean, we don’t know what’s going to happen.”
Springing something like this on her would be cruel. Rook’s eyes narrowed, but he said nothing else as he shut my door and left.
ROOK
Okay. Vex’s date was a success. Drake was done, now it was time for Love.
I found him outside at the barbecue in the covered patio despite the sprinkle of rain.
“What are you doing?”
“She mentioned she liked barbecue when she was high,” he said, as if that was obvious.
“Ask Drake. He’s good at it, right?”
“Ican barbecue.”
“Can you?” I asked, sitting down on one of the benches. I’d never seen him barbecue in his life. As if to prove me wrong, he lifted the lid and poked what was inside with some tongs before shutting it again. It didn’t smell of anything though, and I thought there was supposed to be smoke.
“You told Jas to add Vex to the website?” he asked with a sideways glance to me.
“Yes.” I had. There were no public statements about her yet—not official ones. We should be making them. Regardless of dark bonds, she was our scent match. That was indisputable.
“But—”
“It’s not like people haven’t guessed anyway, and we have offered her the princess bond.”
“Yes, but—”
“Ebony said our job was to give her hope,” I said, measuring his expression. “That’s what he said you wanted.”
“Yes, but this…? This is—”
“Iswhat?” I chuckled. “Childish and naive? Just like me?”
“Rook—”
“No.Thisis what she needs. This isright. You want to live believing that you’ll have no tomorrow with her—that’s how we lose it.”
He looked stunned as he stared at me. I was expecting an argument, but instead he just slumped down at my side. For a long second we were surrounded only by the light pitter-patter of rain on the pool’s surface.
